#and Ursula is her own mess

[thisisntreaver]

Talking about fable lore is wild because one second its like "Theres an annual chicken kicking contest that you can win a fun hat :)" and then its "The children of Oakvale somehow got the dark seal and it made them violent to the point they murdered one of their classmates and their teacher, who is implied to be very unwell herself, in her panicked frenzied state covered it up by hiding her in a cursed toy chest, thus leading to the birth of chesty" then immediately its like "hehe, die you know theres a penis potion :)"

[savingsallow]

— (5) Sad Facts About Val

Things about my MC— Valentine Black —that make me question why I let my child suffer.

content warning: contains themes of trauma, grief, mention of loss of loved ones, nightmares, mental health struggles, isolation and emotional distress. please proceed with caution.

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1.) Recurring Nightmares

Val enjoyed a happy and healthy relationship with her parents despite their identities as dark wizards. The first four years of her life were filled with laughter and joy. In fact, many of her fondest memories are vivid, tracing back to her early childhood.

But that joy was short-lived.

Tragically, Val witnessed her parents' deaths while hiding in a cabinet, peering through a small hole. This traumatic event became one of her most haunting recurring nightmares, alongside the vivid memory of her best friend's lifeless body from her time at the Muggle boarding school.

These nightmares drive Val to avoid sleep whenever possible; short naps are the worst, bringing her the most haunting visions of her past. At night, she bravely travels into her dreams, seeking patterns and lessons, yet she always awakens in terror. To distract herself, she immerses herself in her projects and ideas.

Though her erratic sleep schedule takes a toll on her health, it has unexpectedly allowed her to excel in her studies—particularly in her favorite subjects like potions. She even created a potion fitting for her situation called the "Vitality Veil." As the name suggests, it restores natural vigor and creates a subtle aura of vitality that enhances one’s appearance and can last up to 12 hours.

Essentially, it’s a potion that makes Val seem put together, while in truth, she feels like a chaotic mess.

2.) Stealth Mastery

After being reluctantly adopted by her uncle, Val realized her freedom had limits. She has always resisted authority, never one to follow rules blindly. By day, she mastered the art of compliance, driven by a desperate need for her new family's approval; by night, however, she let herself roam free.

Val knows all the creaky floorboards to avoid, as well as the hidden passages where she can escape. She scours the house for a safe haven to dive into her latest obsession—be it a book about the universe or potion experiments.

House-elves often assisted her in sneaking around unnoticed. The house-elves of the House of Black, including Kreacher and Scrope, became her friends. Sometimes they'd play wizard’s chess together or cook meals for her as she immersed herself in her books and potions.

3.) Isolation

Val has never felt a true sense of belonging. Growing up in London, her extended family made it clear—especially during family gatherings—that she was a burden. Desperate for their affection, she felt the need to don a deranged mask, something she hated but believed was necessary for survival.

Feeling like an outsider in her family was compounded by her alienation in the Muggle world, where her peers considered her an oddball. This constant rejection cultivated a friendship with solitude. It spurred her obsession with researching topics of interest and experimenting with potions in her own unique way.

The closest companions she had were the house-elves, her stuffed animals (which Aunt Ursula eventually disposed of), and her best friend from the Muggle boarding school—who tragically passed away too soon. In the depths of isolation, Val found a friend in solitude, and beneath her facade of preoccupations lies a profound sense of loneliness.

4.) Silent Cries

Though Val has grown more comfortable expressing her emotions, especially at Hogwarts, she struggles to cry in public. It’s not that she doesn’t want to; it’s that she can’t bring herself to do so. Raised in an environment that viewed emotions as weaknesses, she grappled with her naturally expressive nature.

Her Aunt Ursula would lock her in her room for showing strong feelings, teaching Val to control her emotions too well—so well, in fact, that she finds it difficult to cry, even when the urge washes over her. Instead, she has learned to cry silently, in the quiet of night when no one can see.

Even after making friends in her fifth year and gradually opening up to them, Val has never shed tears in their presence.

One of the few times Val almost cried in front of her friends was when she witnessed Sebastian spiraling down a darker path in a misguided attempt to "save his sister," all while seeing Ominis worry for him as he used Unforgivable curses, a path he had vowed to abandon.

Conflicted and terrified, Val struggled to think of the next right steps to take to help her friends, all while handling her growing yet destructive fire magic and Ancient Magic, both of which were becoming unstable due to her involvement with the Dark Arts, especially the Unforgivables.

5.) Layers

Having endured so much, Val has constructed walls around her heart, protecting whatever happiness remains.

At first glance, one might assume she leads a lighthearted and comfortable life; many perceive her as a spoiled brat from the House of Black, underestimating her bubbly personality.

But beneath this facade lies a heart marred by trauma. Though she may seem like an open book, with her genuine remarks and emotional transparency, don’t be deceived. Beneath that cheerful exterior lies a guarded, wounded soul.

Her trust issues run deep; as a child, she invented her own alphabet so no one could decipher her journal entries. Later, at Hogwarts, she enchanted her journal, rendering her words invisible to others—only her whimsical doodles visible to the untrained eye.

Once she begins to share her secrets—like her treasured niffler stuffed toy—freely divulges her quirky ideas, lets you hug her, and miraculously allows you to witness her tears, then you have truly earned her trust.

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🥞 thanks for reading this rather angsty facts! ❤️‍🔥

🥞 non native english speaker, so teeny tiny grammatical errors are very much possible XD

🥞 casually lore dropping bc why not

🥞 leaving here more links about val in case you're a newbie to her lore:

✨ 10 Facts About Val

✨ Val & Hairstyle

✨ Val's Character Introduction

[borgialucrezia]

do you ever think about the fact that in the show juan picked the woman that most closely resembled lucrezia (aka his own sister) to be his bride??!!? because sometimes I remember and i'm like MY GOD WHAT AN INSANE LITTLE DETAIL!! even cesare did not do *that*-- then again, ces was fully aware of his feelings for lucrezia being more than what a brother should feel for his sister, whereas juan was not. but his subconscious? definitely aware!! truly fucking wild. I love it.

delicious food like he wasn't even subtle was he? and this is us ignoring how he became a jealous sobbing mess upon seeing lucrezia kissing paolo lol. now let's delve into juan's wife's portrait. we know how maria historically looked or at least her features in case her portraits weren't too accurate. however in the show maria heavily resembles holliday's lucrezia like...the curly blond hair, full lips, big eyes, or chubby cheeks? this is definitely not a mistake especially considering how everything about this show leans heavily on subtext and metaphors!!

he's not even trying to hide it this point cause look at her...too uncanny like alright then juan!!

and bro was so extra especially when he asked for her permission to marry maria? there are layers to this like i appreciate how he's trying to make her smile but…

like why is he asking HER for permission to get married? insane!!!! stuff!!! no one ever did it like this family!!!! (i mean… do we even need to talk about how she purposely walked in on him fucking some girl instead he was excited to see his sister and pretended like everything was normal as if nothing weird or inappropriate was going on lol?)

speaking of cesare, i lowkey parallel this with when he became obsessed with ursula bonadeo, seduced her, and took advantage of her since he saw her as a surrogate for lucrezia, projecting his sister onto ursula. both juan and cesare are genuinely so unhinged when it comes to lucrezia like inject all this into my veins asap!!

amazing. showstopping. breathtaking. talented. brilliant. superb. never done before etc

[lestcat-de-lioncourt]

Thank you so much @rebel-revenant for tagging me so I can share my 9 books I plan to read in 2025, and share with you all a little bit about what kinds of literature interests me, deeply, queerly, and wholeheartedly.

My 9 books of 2025

The Vampire Chronicles hosting Interview With The Vampire, The Vampire Lestat, and my beloved Queen of the Damned, out of the book series.

Well, need I explain? I think most of you know what these are about.

I'm going to be unfair and count this as 1 book, but technically, it is 3 books. I'll post my own of this one, I'm so proud of it! I own all these books also, though too.

Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Quin

The world of Earthsea is one of sea and islands: a vast archipelago of hundreds of islands surrounded by mostly uncharted ocean. Earthsea contains no large continents.

Magic is a central part of life in most of Earthsea; the exception being the Kargish lands, where it is forbidden. There are weather workers on ships, fixers who repair boats and buildings, entertainers, and court sorcerers. Magic is an inborn talent which can be refined with training. The most gifted are sent to the school on Roke, where, if their skill and discipline prove sufficient, they can become staff-carrying wizards.

Le Guin has stated that the idea of the Dry Land came from the "Greco-Roman idea of Hades' realm.

Dragons dragons dragons.

Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

18-year-old Sophie Hatter is the eldest of three sisters living in Market Chipping, a town in the magical kingdom of Ingary, where fairytale tropes are accepted ways of life, including that the eldest of three will never be successful.

As the eldest, Sophie is resigned to a dull future running the family hat shop. Unbeknownst to her, she is able to talk life into objects. When the powerful Witch of the Waste considers her a threat and turns her into an old crone, Sophie leaves the shop and finds work as a cleaning lady for the notorious wizard Howl. She strikes a bargain with Howl's fire demon, Calcifer: if she can break the contract between Howl and Calcifer, then Calcifer will return her to her original youthful form. Part of the contract, however, stipulates that neither Howl nor Calcifer can disclose the main clause, leaving Sophie to figure it out on her own.

Sophie learns that Howl, a rather self-absorbed and fickle but ultimately good-natured person, spreads malicious rumours about himself to avoid work and responsibility. The door to his castle is actually a portal that opens onto four places: Market Chipping, the seaside city of Porthaven, the royal capital of Kingsbury, and Howl's boyhood home in modern day Wales where he was named Howell Jenkins. Howl's apprentice Michael Fisher runs most of the day-to-day affairs of Howl's business, while Howl chases his ever-changing paramours.

Also, you may not know this, but Howl owns his own Welsh Rugby shirt aside from all the other magical clothes he is known to wear, a personal funny of mine I discovered the first time I read it.

Castle In The Air by Diana Wynne Jones

Castle in the Air follows the adventures of Abdullah, a handsome young carpet salesman from Zanzib, who daydreams constantly about being a stolen prince. One day a strange traveler comes to his stand to sell a magic carpet.

The carpet takes them up to Howl's castle, where they meet abducted princesses and plot with them to escape the flying moving castle. Led by Abdullah, they overpower the two Djinn, freeing Hasruel, who banishes his brother. Flower-in-the-Night had by then wished the Genie free, who turned out to be Sophie's husband and little Morgan's father, the topmost-level wizard Howl Pendragon.

House Of Many Ways by Diana Wynne Jones

When Charmain is caught up in an intense royal search to remedy the kingdom's financial troubles, she encounters Sophie Pendragon, her son Morgan, a beautiful child named Twinkle, and their fire demon Calcifer. One of the messes Twinkle gets Charmain into results in Twinkle climbing onto the roof of the Royal Mansion. She is soon involved in curing the kingdom of its ills and rediscovering the long-lost mystical Elfgift.

Brother to the Sun King: Philippe duc d'Orléans by Nancy Nichols Barker

"In battle, he fought with legendary valour . . . At court, dressed in silks and ribbons, he openly favoured his male lovers . . . Despised but feared by his brother, he was the perpetual loser in a lifelong sibling rivalry . . . "Philippe, brother of Louis XIV, might have been a prince of great renown in the service of the king―had the king only shown him his faith and trust. . . . This is an excellent book. I congratulate the author on a work that is objective and of high quality." Henry, Count of Paris

Robert Sheehan: Disappearing Act

Informed by the author's peripatetic life, Disappearing Act reflects on the absurdity of human behaviour. Sheehan delves deep into his characters' streams of self-talk and self-imposed delusions, exploring the dark impulses that lurk below the shiny surfaces of many outwardly normal lives.

Spooky North Carolina retold by S. E. Schlosser

The spirit of a railroad flagman shines his lantern along the tracks near Maco, where he lost his head in a train accident. The ghost of a girl haunts the grave robbers who stole her corpse to use in a college medical department. And in a swamp outside Smithfield, a grisly mass hanging is re-created on dark nights. All this and much more!

-

And because one of my cats was very cute to this particular book, I'll share another photo as it was near enough for me to just grab:

Blood and Gold by Anne Rice

Once a proud Senator in Imperial Rome, kidnapped and made a blood god by the Druids, Marius becomes the embittered protector of Akasha and Enkil, Queen and King of the vampires, in whom the core of the supernatural race resides. We follow him through his heartbreaking abandonment of the vampire Pandora.

No pressure tags: @heroinecomplication @bitchywillgraham @lestatmonamour @sarcastic-clapping @gnc-lestat @lestatmonamour @xxdrowninglessonsxx @capricornsun-queen @monsterfucker-molloy @lestatbratposting @lestats-groupie @louisdulac @devilsminionworlddomination

[daphnebowen]

descendants rise of red thoughts

warning: these are probably nonsensical and just a lot of confusion/venting/random excitement?? but enjoy regardless:

I'm glad that they explained jay, evie, and mal's absence right off the bat 

Uma and mal's relationship >>>

Not me bawling my eyes out already at the mention of Carlos, we all know uma's tears were china's tears 😭😭

Wonderland is GORGEOUS

"DEVIL ON MY SHOULDER" WHERE THE ANGELS USED TO BE

this fight scene is so unrealistic 

LUCIUS MALFOY?!?! (nope it's a dupe)

can I just say Kylie is GORGEOUS in red??

MAD HATTER SON SIGHTING AND I LOVE HOW HIS NAME IS MADDOX

who would have guessed she used the hug with Maddox to steal the Time Machine - hmm, not me!!

Brandy is absolutely KILLING IT her voice is majestic 

but where does Chad fit into all of this??? like isn't he the son of Cinderella but he doesn't look like his dad or mom?

the queen of hearts accent is soooo soothing

she (the queen of hearts) reminds me a LOT of Audrey, in her looks, her mannerisms, the way she speaks, her everything, it's kinda crazy 

A MENTION OF CHAD!!! Maybe it's possible! who cares about genetics!!

okay queen of hearts buggy is 🤩🤩

Chloe reminds me so much of evie and red reminds me so much of mal!! this is probably obvious to everyone and on purpose but oh well

WHATS MY NAME REMIXXXXX AHHHH

where's Harry and Gil bro not even a mention of them??? they were uma's best friends bffr

Omg I haven't seen Dara in a lot of other things but she is SLAYING the crazy uliana character 

Chloe running around fixing all the things red's messing around with is so accurate 

WICKED STEPMOM SIGHTING

anyways, the house Cinderella grew up in is soooo accurate to how I pictured it

I don't think poor chloe has ever touched a mop lol

Dara doesn't even sound like herself in this song

THAT EEL FREAKING SCARED ME GAGAHAGAGA IT LOOKS JUST LIKE FLOTSAM AND JETSAM which is probably the point but oh well here I am 

the way my heart DROPPED when she smashed the shoes!!!! 😢😢

oh snap. I did NOT expect red to go there (speaking about the "how did that end up for her?" talking about Chloe's mom) THATS SO AWFUL AND HORRIBLE MY JAW DROPPED

young Cinderella can SINGGGG

Love how they never showed Chloe's feet after she threw her glass shoes into the fireplace 😂 not important but I thought it was funny

love the kid barking and meowing and making Merlin rethink his life choices 

I definitely thought for a second that red was gonna be like "actually, I want to stay in this timeline"

OMG I HOPE THIS WORKS

YESSSS UMAAAA SLAYYYYYY ILYYYY

the costume change for queen of hearts is EVERYTHING

how is Chloe going to explain the broken glass shoes to her mom lol

nothing gets past Uma lol she's ALL KNOWING OUR QUEEN

final thoughts: reaaaalllyyyy wishing we could have brought back more of the og's or even got a little more closure about Carlos and his death. even though I know everyone's moving on and healing and dove especially is distancing herself from Disney and trying to be her own person without that (which, I respect) I still would have liked a cameo, a sort of "passing the torch" thing. without them it kinda was abrupt and strange, but having fairy godmother and Uma definitely benefited the movie. Red and Chloe were definitely well thought out and loveable and relatable characters for me, being a perfectionist myself and having three little troublemaking brothers who want nothing to do with me or my family at all. I feel like there was hardly any real time to get to know the other characters at all though! particularly young Bridget and ella, I definitely would have loved to see more of them. even uliana, although she made such a big impact and interest with her limited amount of screen time, put it to good use and made the most, though I would have wanted more. More backstory between her and Ursula's relationship, perhaps??? Uma and uliana reconciliation?? where is uliana now??? etc etc etc. I feel like the movie was so short there wasn't a ton of time to fully flesh things out and explore the characters and yet the pacing was great for the plot, so I don't know how those two things work together but somehow it felt rushed and yet perfect at the same time?? Like I don't know what they could have added to make it longer. definitely wanted more Uma and fairy godmother banter and updates on all the vks and auradon kids!!! how's Jane!!! ESPECIALLY NOW CARLOS IS NO LONGER WITH US?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? what about Lonnie!! and dizzy and the twins and Doug and Harry and Gil and all those other rascals. good to know Chad's off playing tourney in college and we know mal, Ben, evie, and jay are sailing around the world making amends with other countries and forming alliances. but yeah. overall I was pretty satisfied, obviously I don't think ANYTHING could top the iconic original descendants but I feel like this one did its job. it continued the story and introduced many new characters and a new timeline and plot line that was easy to follow while also leaving room for more and for wanting more. didn't even mention the music but I felt a lot of it was suuuuper repetitive and just this pop thing. where are my ballads!!! my if onlys!!! everything was just like "rotten to the core" or "chillin like a villain" and I wanted some emotional songs. Yes, I love a good pop upbeat song but I don't want an entire movie of them. everyone sang great I think, except I couldn't tell what was real and what was auto tune, but anyways. so yeah, I'd rate this movie a 7.5 out of 10. Pretty decent but still... not the greatest. as to almost be expected without our original cast.

side note: anyone wondering, if Cameron Boyce hadn't passed away, do we think they still would have continued adding on to that original trilogy and storyline or do we think that they would have brought in the new characters and storylines anyway? just a thought, I've always wondering what it would be like if cam hadn't passed. rest in peace xo 💋 

[littleladymab]

What is HOWL? 👀

This one also goes out to @strangeharpy who asked

For the WIP title game, I am curious about HOWL!

So HOWL is a sci-fi project in which I take a cast of characters I made up with no plot and then smush it together with my "space lesbeans" project that had a decent plot but not fully fleshed out cast.

It's also what I'm doing with Kerri as a fully separated from FTL character LOL so when I was writing notes for the gorls, I had to make sure I didn't make it too similar to what I plan on doing for HOWL.

HOWL, largely, is inspired by the fact that there was something in SW that was cool and creepy in concept and I thought it absolutely FAILED on the delivery. You got a cosmic horror beast of a creature that consumes the living force from people and turns them into husks and then DON'T make it scary? Fuck, what are you doing with your life?! Anyway I also like to call it "what if I made star wars gay and scary" project.

So anyway, I do have to better figure out how to merge the two projects together into one coherent project but there's going to be not!jedi and epic betrayal and political intrigue, and yeah some scary cosmic monsters that will eat the essence of you right out of your body.

Kerri (human what can do magic) hires Nelo (cyborg what stole someone's identity) to be a bodyguard and get her home, and somewhere along they way they run into Jack (human what can also do magic) and their crew (Casper, Yasmine, and Ursula, who are all different kinds of aliens) on their ship called HOWL. Jack has a REAL MESSY HISTORY with the antagonist (I've been calling him Daniel for Reasons(TM), and his co-conspirator Mateen), and you know, plot will ensue.

As a fun side note, on the pin board I made for HOWL I saved one (1) picture of Timothee Chalamet in error and my friend never let me live it down and now my WIP channel for this project in our group chat is also the "i'm going to wonkapost here, to torment you".

Here's a passage I had written from years ago, when they were separate projects and I was experimenting with Jack's voice!

"You weren't telling me the whole truth!" "What does it matter?" "It matters because if he asks you to leave with him again, you might say yes!" I open my mouth, but the denial doesn't come, and Casper growls as he draws away. "Were you in love with him?" Caspar asks, and the laugh that is startled out of me is raw and wild. "Jack! Were you?" "I don't know!" I repeat, as if saying it louder makes it any more true. Casper tosses his hands in the air, and there's a glitter of goldenrod petals in their wake. He's stressed, agitated, and it's my fault. "Bullshit you don't know." "I don't. I don't--" I scrub my hands over my face and try again. "Humans are… We are a tangled mess of emotions and feelings and thoughts. What one person thinks isn't the same meaning as what someone else thinks. Emotions and interpretations. It is so impossible to know what I felt with certainty. It was so long ago. I don't know. Maybe? Maybe I did. In my own way, maybe I did." "And now?" I think about it, try to understand how I felt when I saw him standing across the airlock from me. That smile of his that always meant trouble was just around the corner, but wouldn't it be something if we could stay one step ahead the whole time? "He tried to kill you," Casper says into the silence when I take too long to answer. "He almost did. It is a fucking miracle you lived." "I know." The vines twist and grow up his forearms and he doesn't even seem to notice. "And you would still go if he asks you to leave?" I don't answer, but he fills in the blank anyway.

[[Ask me about my WIPS!!]]

[velvetvexations]

Here's every extreme kink ask. CW for gender play, drugging, and gore!

So, basically every kink I have is centered around my kink for humiliating and degrading others and I can be sold on any kink that doesn’t set off my anxieties as long as they’re connected to those. But of course that’s not enough, I also get off on the idea of institutional power dynamics that favor me. Dangerous game to play if I ever focus on where I’m privileged, but thankfully I mainly focus on trans supremacy or I combine it with misogyny kink for transmasc supremacy. (Imperative that I never come across transfem supremacy. Nothing against it, I’m just a dom who hates being penetrated so that kink has nothing to offer me plus pokes at the “a woman SA’d me” trauma). I have to make my own porn cause a lot of trans supremacy is transfem supremacy and a lot of misogyny kink is aggressively ciscentric. But at least the TRF portrayal of trans men being sadistic predators who use our male privilege and our AGAB to our advantage against poor innocent women gives me inspo for porn. But a lot of times I wish someone else would make my smut for me for once.

We're fist bumping, I don't like trans supremacy either because it's all just like. It feels like futa lol. I need sexually aggressive trans women doms combined with detrans where they ARE perverted fakegirls pretending to be a woman for a fetish but they AREN'T detransitioning, they're going to continue to do it and abuse their social cache as a poor oppressed minority, like sitting in on therapy circles at sexual assault survivor's meetings and having a visible erection, and when people complain it's like, oh my God, that's just her anatomy, you transphobe!

Can you believe that anon thought I present myself as an innocent person with nothing but good vibes?

My deepest darkest secret kink is mostly a secret because literally how the fuck would I ever explain it. I, a trans guy, am deeply deeply into misgendering/transphobia kink - but for MTF, not FTM. Make it make sense, because I sure fucking can’t. (Is this the kink cultural appropriation the TRFs were mad about lol)

thank fucking God I need someone else to be into it so I HAVE SOME FUCKING CONTENT!

Far and away my most messed up kink is amputation. like YES reduce me to a torso with tits and holes, unable to run, unable to push you away, unable to ever give myself any pleasure ever again. just a literal fleshlight reliant on you for everything.

yeah I can see the appeal in that

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about someone getting me hooked on drugs, and then making me do more and more fucked up and degrading things to get those drugs. There’s just something insanely hot about the sort of desperation that slams you face first into rock bottom and then hands you a shovel, you know?

forced drug addiction kink is spectacular

kink confession. two specific drawings in the 1992 little golden book of disney's little mermaid is what awoke some of my sexuality, specifically tentacle lust and snuff/necro kink. i have distinct memories of reading it as a child, eating a poptart, staring very intently at ursula using her tentacles to physically restrain ariel after her pet eels manipulated her away from safety, and wondering why i felt so funny about reading that part of the book, and why i liked thinking about ursula transforming ariel into a human and then holding her underneath the water so she drowned. and eventually that turned in to me imagining what one might do with a very pretty dead body they could do whatever they wanted to. i looked for an archive of the specific book so i could share what titillated a nine year old budding sadomasochist so much. it's truly so tame, the human mind is amazing.

It's very tame, but I love that for you anon. I'm obsessed with how people get kinks and so much of it is while still developing.

[sirianasims]

📩 Simblr question of the day: What is the longest you have played with one sim/household/legacy for?

answer in whatever way is most comfortable for you and feel free to share this SQOTD around, make sure to use the hashtag SQOTD and tag me in separate posts ~ 💛

This question was contributed by an anon !

Hey Squat! ❤️

In some ways, my current story, The Duchellis, is the longest I've ever stuck to anything in this game. It actually began because I'd constantly start a new save, mess around for a few days, then get bored and start over. I never really got to the point where any of my sims' children grew up or anyone died from old age, and I never really knew what to do. Then I had the idea to see if i could stick to a legacy challenge.

I started the Experiences Challenge by @duchesty and played through all 12 generations, and I had a blast. I made up stories in my head about the family and I actually cared about them a lot. It ended with Ursula, the final heir, solving the Strangerville mystery ❤️

A year or so later, I felt like doing it again, but a bit differently. This is also where I decided to take pictures and post the story for others to see for the first time, because I've always wanted to write but it scared me.

Putting captions on some silly sims felt less daunting.

The first chapter of The Duchelli Legacy (the name is an homage to Duchesty) was published February 23, 2022 and for a long time, I had a story in my head but mostly adapted it to what my sims were doing, nudging them into situations that fit with my headcanon.

The first generation was about Alexandra trying to juggle a criminal career while being in an open marriage with Don and dealing with her Landgraab baby daddy's extremely jealous new wife.

Generation 2 started with Cora and her two best friends going to university... but I barely got into Generation 2 before I started coming up with plot and using poses and changing up my writing style.

Cora went on a very unexpected trip and her entire life changed. And suddenly I was no longer doing a challenge, but writing a very long story with plot. And generational trauma.

Generation 3 followed Cora's son Eric and the consequences of some questionable university experiences. These experiences left their mark, and Eric struggled a lot with some very unhealthy coping mechanisms.

Eric's struggles affected his daughter, Freya, who grew up with her own issues. It took a major disaster for her to finally face her demons and deal with them.

Thankfully she did, and her daughter Julia grew up healthy and happy, the first to do so in several generations.

But that doesn't mean that Julia won't be facing her own challenges, especially after a fateful run-in with famous actor Paul Romeo at GeekCon.

And now we're here. Let's see what happens next, shall we? 👀

[recreationalfanfics]

This was stuck in my notes (And I wanted to clear them out, so please forgive me that there’s a LOT of information)

I feel like Daley!Reader has fairly decent grades in every class, except History, then they’re the top History Student on the Whole Campus (With everyone wondering how, then they say, ‘History really comes to life to me’ and then everyone remembers that they can bring historical figures ‘to life’, and the Teachers don’t think it’s cheating because all Reader is doing is getting their information by literally talking to said figures in history and read books about them to know what them personally)

Or just out of spite (Cause sometimes your tired of being the ‘Bigger Person’ and you just wanna go ‘Screw It!’), if Daley!Reader gets annoyed with certain House Wardens or Students for their bragging about their skills, they literally bring one of the Statues of the Great Seven to life to get some help on giving a ‘Certain Someone’ a ‘Taste of their own medicine’ (Earning the Respect of Each Great Seven Statue on what Reader does to one-up, Minus Malleus, as Reader actually want Maleficent’s help to impress their Mysterious Friend, and she helps, but mistakes Reader’s friendship ‘Tips’ with some Custom Fae Rituals to wing Malleus over, it works, but they freak out because Malleus ‘Accepts Them’ as his future spouse) Like Azul cons them eh? Gets help from the Ursula to con him back, or Vil going on about Poison and Beauty, gets help from the Fair Queen to make her signature Poison Apple (Shocking Vil, Rook and Epel, but Rook is the only one ugly crying about the beauty of it) and don’t get me started on Hades, as Daley!Reader doesn’t have any issues with Idia (yet), but wants to be his friend, so asks Hades what to do (He’s shocked by Idia’s Social Anxiety, but makes a few jokes about it, and recommends Reader to give Idia some Pomegranate Flavored things, cue Reader buying him Pomegranate Flavored Energy Drinks, Candies, Snacks and just straight up gives him the fruit for actual Sustenance)

- Another Add on to the Magical Tablet thing, because they’re in a world full of Magic, the Tablet doesn’t just bring statues to life at night, but also in the daytime, however it has a radius of the Entire NRC Building, so as long as these figures don’t step outside of NRC Building Grounds in the Daytime, they won’t turn to dust (They are however able to step outside when it’s nighttime, they just just have to come back before daybreak, like the classic Museum Rules) as one of the figures stepped out and they just turned into a pile of ash right in front of their eyes, which honestly traumatized everyone who witnessed this as they didn’t think Daley!Reader was serious when they said they’ll turn to a pile of ash)

You can ignore this if you want (These were in my notes for MONTHS and I forgot about them) I just wanted to send them to you because these were thoughts

THESE ARE ALL SUCH GOOD IDEAS OMG!?

- Yes, the Daley! Reader definetly gets super high grades in history because it interests them more but imagine them not only talking to the Great Seven statues but also, they explore the school archives and such and are constantly asking questions and whatever and Ace and Deuce think they're a dork but in a sweet silly little way.

- and the magical tablet concept is cool! I like the idea that because its surrounded by magic that it works 24/7 but I just prefer it to be with the theme of like, happening at night because 9f the movie.

- THEM BRINGING HISTORICAL FIGURES TO LIFE TO MESS WITH THE NRC KIDS IS SO FUNNY. THAT'S LIKE BRINGING BACK ARISTOTLE BECAUSE SOME KID WAS BRAGGING ABOUT GETTING A HIGHER SCORE THAN YOU ON A TEST OR SOMETHING GJWJFJEJFJ-

[nuttersincorporated]

The Villains Lair: the story so far

I’ve been rewatching The Villains Lair by PattyCake Productions and I’ve written a summary of the plot so far.

If you haven’t watched it and want to avoid spoilers, you can watch it here.

According to the villains themselves (what they say should be taken with a pinch of salt) and what we’ve seen ourselves, the story so far is this-

Maleficent helped Stefan gain the throne and become king. Stefan pretended he’d done it all alone, didn’t acknowledge Maleficent’s help, married someone else and didn’t invite her to the christening of his daughter.

Maleficent wanted revenge so made a deal with Ursula AKA the Sea Witch (sister of King Triton and daughter of Poseidon). Ursula gave her a Sleeping Spell in exchange for her wings so that she could curse Stefan’s daughter.

When the Evil Queen gave Snow White the poisoned apple, the seven dwarfs chased her off a cliff. The Evil Queen fell into the sea and died. Ursula found her and brought her back to solid ground.

Ursula spoke to Evil Queen’s spirit and offered a deal; if Evil Queen helped Ursula overthrow her brother, Ursula would bring her back to life. Evil Queen agreed to the terms. However, the moment she felt she could get away, Evil Queen reengaged on their deal and went off to do her own thing.

Evil Queen found Maleficent at the bottom of a cliff with Prince Philip’s sword in her heart. It’s unclear if she was dead or dying but Evil Queen either somehow brought her back to life or saved her.

Evil Queen and Maleficent teamed up. Evil Queen asked Maleficent to resurrect the other dead villains and when they came back to life, they all moved into Evil Queen’s castle. Villains who didn’t die, like Cinderella’s step-mother Lady Tremaine also got invited.

Evil Queen was still in debt to Ursula who might be able to undo the magic that brought her back to life. Some or all of the villains worked together combining their powers to magically seal Ursula away so she’d be unable to collect her debt.

While they are all talking about how much they hate how their stories went, Dr Facilier AKA the Shadow Man told them there was a way to rewrite time and make it so that they’d won. He took items from some of the villains to make a magical spell of some sort. The spell didn’t immediately rewrite time or do anything obvious.

The villains asked Dr Facilier for more details of how to mess with time. He told them about the Sundial of Cronus.

When the universe was young, the titans ruled. Cronus – the most powerful – became obsessed with controlling of time. However, he was cruel and mad. Eventually, Zeus defeated Cronus and locked him away inside the Sundial. Now the Sundial of Cronus can be used to move time forward or backwards.

Dr Facilier used his cards to discover the location of the Sundial. It used to belong to Hades but Zeus entrusted it to Meg after Hades’ soul fell into the river styx. She now protected it at the Princess Academy.

Unfortunately (or fortunately because they are villains with evil intentions), Dr Facilier told the other villains that, even if they managed to get the Sundial, he didn’t actually know how it works.

Maleficent told them that she thought the answer was obvious. Sunlight moves time forward and moonlight moves it back. However, for the dark magic they were planning, a blood moon would be needed. As Mistress of all Evil, Maleficent said she could easily make a blood moon.

Evil Queen decided she would disguise herself, go to the Princess Academy and trick the Princess into handing over the Sundial. It took her a while to prepare and put this plan into action.

During all this, different villains have been interacting in different ways. Some get along but others do not. Evil Queen, Mother Gothel and Lady Tremaine bonded over their abusive parenting techniques.

Cruella de Vil, Gaston, Mother Gothel and Yzma all love making bad look good. Dr Facilier, who was listening from the shadows, stepped out and introduced them to Vanessa, a Queen from under the sea, who can change her looks. The group then had a discussion about something (it’s probably nothing, don’t worry about it!)

The minions and henchmen hung out together and sang a jolly song about being their for their villains.

Evil Queen went to the Princess Academy in disguise. She span a story about being sent by Zeus to stop a great evil. However, it turned out that someone got there before her. According to the person who’d come the day before, the Sundial was in danger but it would be safe under the sea with Triton, so now it’s gone.

When Evil Queen got back to the castle, she told everyone what had happened. They realised someone must has leaked their plans. Then worked out that Dr Facilier had tricked them into releasing Ursula and told her about the Sundial so that she could steal it first.

Cruella de Vil, Gaston and Mother Gothel tried to sneak off but were caught by Maleficent who realised they knew about Ursula already. Yzma wasn’t there so its unclear if people know that she knew.

Vanessa stepped out of the shadows. At first the villains threatened her until they thought she was an envoy for Ursula. They demand Vanessa tell Ursula to bring them the Sundial. Only for Vanessa to transform and reveal that she was Ursula all along.

Ursula told them, she would bring the Sundial once they’ve all made a deal with her. If they don’t, she would keep it 20,000 leagues under the sea.

Dr Facilier revealed that he hadn’t told them everything about the Sundial. Only the descendent of a god can unlock its power. As Poseidon’s daughter, Ursula is the only one of them that can make the Sundial work. Whether they liked it or not, he said they needed her.

Ursula vanished. She would come back when the others decide to make a deal with her. Some of the villains thought they should make a deal with Ursula but others didn’t.

Lady Tremaine pointed out that if the descendent of a god can activate Sundial, then surely a god would work even better.

Evil Queen remembered Hades who’d already owned the Sundial once. Unfortunately, Hades was dead, dead. Maleficent had brought a lot of the villains back to life but Hades wasn’t one of them. His soul had fallen into the river Styx but Evil Queen thought that the Black Cauldron might be bring him back.

Maleficent voiced her reservations but Evil Queen was sure this is a good plan. She asked the Magic Mirror where the Cauldron was and it told her it was on Morva. It also said that the lord lost inside it will rise again. Everyone ignores that line.

Maleficent pointed out that the Cauldron was supposed to be broken and it’s protected by three witches. Evil Queen dismissed this. The Mirror said the Cauldron would work and she believed it. She decided to distract the witches by pretending to offer them the Mirror so that someone could steal the Cauldron when they were away.

Captain Hook offered to sail to Morva with his pirate crew to steal it. He just needed a new ship (Peter Pan stole his).

Prince Hans had recently come to the castle and Lady Tremaine thought he’d be willing to offer his ship and sail with them. We don’t see her ask him but later we find out he did agree to help with the plan.

Gaston offered to go too and be the mussel.

After all her arguments against the plan, Maleficent suddenly changed her tune. If this was the plan they were all determined to go with, she’d accompany them to make sure everything would go smoothly. As punishment for not telling them about Ursula, Maleficent told Cruella she has to come as well.

It’s unclear why Maleficent wants at least two members of the crew of the mission to be people who knew about Ursula before everyone else. It seems like a bad idea to put them on a ship, on the ocean, where they’ll be nearer to Ursula but I’m sure she has her reasons. Maybe she just wants to keep an eye on them.

Maleficent went down to the dungeon where she’s keeping Oogie Boogie prisoner, for reasons unknown. Oogie doesn’t care about the villains’ various schemes and backstabbing. However, when Maleficent offered Oogie a tied-up Santa in exchange, of his magic dice that can control the shadows, he didn’t hesitate to agree.

It’s unclear where Dr Facilier has been since he told them all they needed Ursula. However, Maleficent hopes the dice will be enough to stop him using the shadows anymore.

Hans, Gaston, Jafar and Frollo bonded over being misogynistic incels. Even the other villains think that their ‘love interests’ were right to turn them down (though the hunters do like Gaston’s story of in sighting a mod to kill a monster). Anastasia and Drizella, on the other hand, were on Hans and Gaston’s sides, and said they were in the right and fought for their attention.

Evil Queen questioned Maleficent about why she’s choosing to go to Morva. Maleficent says it’s to return Hades to life but changes the subject when Evil Queen asks if that’s the only reason she’s going.

Whatever Maleficent’s motives; she, Hook and his crew, Hans, Gaston and Cruella will set sail soon.

[adarkrainbow]

By the way, speaking of the erasure of actors with dwarfism... Right after I have been hit by this Time Bandits mess, I have just watched the trailer for the live-action Disney's Snow-White. And... honestly all of the problems talked about and issues raised before seem truly non-significant compared to what I actually got out of this trailer. Which I think is the real problem with this movie.

The feeling of... unecessary. I watched the trailer, and I was left with nothing out of it, except a neutral "Why would they make that?" coupled with a tired "Why would I watch it?" Because there was nothing in this trailer that encouraged the audience or gave the audience the desire to go watch it if they already knew the original movie.

Here's my point: when the whole Disney live-action movies trend started (I am going to say "live-action remakes" to differentiate it from older live-action movies like the excellent 101 Dalmatians live-action movie), it worked with an immense success. Why? Because these movies had something to them. Yes they reused classic movies and stuck to them... but in their own, unique way and they didn't hesitate to change things up, to differentiate themselves from it. The most obvious being the Maleficent movie, which was a literal "perspective flip" with a ton of new stuff (moral reversal, backstory given to a villain, anti-villain situation, etc) ; but even the Cinderella live-action "remake" worked hard on having its own style, not hesitating to change the design of some key characters (Lady Tremaine would be my main example). Thus, they worked extremely well. Whether you like them or not, you can't deny they're their own thing and stand up on their own.

Cut to today. I am going to use mainly Disney's remakes of The Little Mermaid and Snow-White (though I could also use stuff like Aladdin or other movies). What's the difference? These movies are remake. Absolute remakes trying to stick as closest to the original as possible: same story, same shots, same designs. They are basically... transpositions. Sure there are some changes (in The Little Mermaid, making Ariel a different skin color and having a whole Caribean style) but they still feel very minor compared to all the efforts made to stick to the original animated piece. Compare the Lady Tremaine case above with Ursula or the Evil Queen in those live-action movies - there isn't an effort to reinvent the character to better fit a live-action universe or a different style of story. They are both created as an attempt to reproduce the original cartoon design as faithfully as possible. And this is what I mean by how "unecessary" these movies are feeling right now. They are literaly just retelling the same story, with minor changes. It feels like so much money and effort and special effects and acting is being thrown away at just... a repetition o what we already have instead of creating anything new.

It's not like Disney run out of fairytales to work with! Imagine that, we could have had a whole new range of live-action fairytale movies! But not it is just... recreating the exact same shots, over and over (I was particularly puzzled by how they worked so hard to recreate the shot of the Evil Queen going down the stairs while having her cape float behind her. You put a lot of effort to recreate this old animated shot, okay... But what's the point? Why would I pay to watch this same shot in live-action when I already did tons of time animated?)

In fact this is why these live-action remakes are bound to feel inferior to the original animated pieces - precisely BECAUSE they are trying to recreate and stick to the original... while being limited by budget and real-life physics and visuals, meaning they will have to tweak it slightly in unsatisfying way. If they had decided to go with their own style and stuff it wouldn't have been a problem (again, Disney's Cinderella live-action, the two Lady Tremaines feel like different characters and thus it is easier to separate these things and look at each on their own).

(It also doesn't help that Disney has been working a LOT of doing live-action versions of their own characters before, from Once Upon a Time to Descendants, so again... trying to recreate exactly things is just bound to cause unpleasant comparisons).

[zooophagous]

Strauss stood in the bathroom shirtless, picking at the dead skin along his arms and depositing it in the wastebin. The skin healed quickly, and was mercifully painless, but still a sensory nightmare to have all over one’s back.

Artemis stood in the doorway behind him with her arms crossed.

“You should really let the doctors look at that.”

“I would prefer not to.”

“You’re probably really dehydrated after all of-”

“I would prefer not to.” He repeated more firmly. “Apologies. I have spent too much of my existence in the hospital wing on Sylvain’s behalf already. I am not going back. I need dinner and time, that is all.”

“Alright” She shrugged. “So, over the phone you told me Sylvain wasn’t the killer.”

“She is not.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“I all but asked her point blank. She had no idea what I was talking about.”

“And you don’t think that was a lie?”

“No. She followed up by telling me that it would be suicidally stupid for a vampire to hunt in the same city as Ursula Harker. I tend to agree with her. From what she told me, she does not hunt. That makes sense, given how little she shows up on the radar. If she were killing, there would be a body found eventually. She would know better than to leave her ‘empties’ out in the open.”

“I guess. But that begs the question. Who did the killing, if not Sylvain? Is there another vampire in St. Joseph?”

“Who’s to say? Perhaps Sylvain has created a lackey that slipped away from its master’s lair and made itself a mess.” He sneered at his own reflection in the mirror as he spoke. “If she has such a thrall beneath her, however, I did not see one.”

“It also begs the question of who or what has been feeding her if she hasn’t been hunting.”

“She may get by on charity, like I used to. Does she have many remaining friends? Any family?”

“She wasn’t on great terms with her family, and none of them live nearby. Most of her friends were work friends, and well… that’s sort of awkward now, isn’t it?”

“Yes. I think perhaps all of our friends are now work friends. I understand the feeling.”

“Did she tell you anything else?”

“Mostly she was trying to convince me to turn my back on the Institute and make my claim in the wild. Was there anything else you were expecting?”

“I don’t know.”

Artemis leaned against the door frame and slid down slightly. She looked down and away. She asked softly.

“Did she say anything about me?”

Strauss looked away from his tattered skin at Artemis, and saw faint tears beginning to form.

“About you?”

“I mean. We were together for a while, and it didn’t exactly end well. I thought maybe she’d… have something to say. Some apology. Some token gesture.”

She sighed heavily and crossed her arms. “I should have known she wouldn’t. The woman I loved died a long time ago. I guess I just wanted some sort of closure. Maybe that’s stupid.”

“You are not stupid.”

Strauss went to her and took her hand in his claw.

“Truthfully, Sylvain did talk about you. She told me she wanted me to turn away from the institute to protect you.”

“Protect me?”

“Yes. She is of the belief that this field is too dangerous, and as long as there is a vampire near you, you are in grave peril.” He tilted his head. “She is not incorrect.”

“So she’s been harassing you on purpose to sabotage the project because she wants to protect me?” Artemis snorted. “She thinks all this dangerous bullshit is helping?”

“She is a very unwell individual. I can only tell you what she told me. I cannot extrapolate her reasons beyond that. I do not believe, however, that she has stopped loving you.”

It hurt him to admit it.

“I get the impression, Frau Van Helsing, that you have not stopped loving her.”

“I haven’t.” Artemis wiped a tear from her eyes. “I always will, on some level, you know? I can’t… be with her anymore. Even if she apologized, a physical assault like what she did doesn’t just go away. I’ll always be scarred by that. But I also don’t want…”

“You don’t want her to be harmed.”

“Yeah.” She wiped her nose. “Maybe she’s right. I am too soft hearted. I’ll get eaten alive by some vampire sooner or later.” She laughed sadly. “Maybe I should take her advice and retire. Maybe then people would stop getting hurt.”

“Frau Van Helsing. Artemis.” He lifted her chin with his claw. “You are not too “soft” for this project. If anything, your humanity is your strength.”

“You’re just saying that because you know you’re the favorite.”

“Perhaps. But, consider this. There is something you can do that no other hunter can.”

“What? Seduce a vampire into submission?” She winked.

“No.” He flushed slightly. “You can sneak up on me.”

“Hmm?”

“Yes. It bothered me, having you manage to creep up behind me so often. It is unnerving to go from stalker to stalked- but it also confused me. I can hear your heart in your chest, but I cannot hear you sneaking up on me.”

“All slayers are trained to have quiet feet.”

“No. More than that. You are the only slayer here who can muffle their own heartbeat.”

She blinked in surprise. “What?”

“I don’t know how you do it, just that it works. You have caught me unaware more than once. Nobody else can do this. I don’t even think Frau Harker can. I doubt Sylvain could either.”

“That’s some interesting perspective. I’m not sure how it helps.”

“What I am telling you is, you are uniquely adapted to your position. You have evolved to do exactly this.”

She laughed. “I evolved to stalk vampires? Maybe if vampires are the next link in human evolution, I’m the next link after them.” She smirked.

“Yes, evolving like one of Darwin’s finches. I seem to remember reading somewhere, that there are finches that consume blood. Perhaps your beak is simply beginning to turn to a more useful target.”

“Then you best not leave your heart on your sleeve for daws to peck at.”

Strauss grinned. “Are you quoting Shakespear at me?”

“Just a little. Thank you, Strauss. For sticking your neck out for use again. And for making me feel better. I still wish we had some real answers.”

“Yes. More investigation is needed. Whoever killed that young man, vampire or otherwise, I am quite sure is not done fucking with us.”

“You better sit out for a bit. With any luck Sylvain thinks you’re dead, and we can use that to keep her off your trail for a bit. That and auntie sort of wants to nail you to the wall crucifix style to keep you from running off again.”

“How is she doing?”

“Still angry at herself as ever for that hole in security. At least it’s fixed now, and no long term injuries happened from it. She’s too mopey over it to even come yell at you in person, so enjoy some second hand threats from me in the meantime.”

“If she will not come looking for me, I suppose I would like to ask. Do you desire any company this evening?”

“I’m surprised you’re up for it after all of that.”

“After all of that, Artemis, I think I need it.”

[dragoneyes618]

AU of the Tremaine Manor Fire @hannahhook7744 where the Tremaine home burned down, almost everyone died, and the only survivors were Anthony, Dizzy….and Dizzy’s father, Prince Hans.

Hans did not love Drizella, nor even like her that much. They tolerated each other in a “we have to work together so let’s make the best of it” at the best of times, and there were many times that were far from that. They only married because he’d get a stable place to live, as the Tremaines were banished with all of their property and possessions, and she’d get to marry a prince. But there is a big difference between not liking her and wanting her to die.

And there were his daughters, Dizzy’s sisters. Hans did care about them, but he never knew how to show it. He didn’t know how to be a father, but he knew he didn’t want to be like his father. So he generally didn’t have much to do with them, figuring that if he couldn’t be a good father, at least he wouldn’t be a bad one. Instead, he was an absent one. He generally had more to do with them as they grew older, once they were approaching adulthood and he had no chance of messing up their childhoods anymore.

And now they are all dead. No chance of ever having another interaction with them, of ever talking to them again. No chance of ever figuring things out with Drizella. A silent, burned-out house.

Hans has never been truly alone before. In the Southern Isles, he was the youngest of thirteen brothers; before long, sisters-in-law, nieces, and nephews joined the family. Sure, he hated most of his brothers, but that doesn’t change the fact that he was accustomed to living with many people.

On the Isle, he wed Drizella at her mother’s insistence and moved into her home; in addition to her, her sister, her nephew and her mother, before long they had quite a few daughters of their own. He may have barely talked to most of them and been at odds with the rest of them - ironically, the Tremaine he got along with the best was Anastasia - but they were always there, always constant. 

Hans is used to the sounds of people talking and shouting and arguing, the bustle and rustle of people moving around and going about their daily lives. And now, all that is gone. Dead. Silent.

Hans hates the quiet.

He falls into a depression. He pretty much moves into the Isle’s taverns and restaurants - anywhere that is full of people, where he is surrounded by noise. Anywhere he can get a drink, and another and another, in a futile attempt to drown his sorrows. He’ll fall asleep in the early hours of the morning in the corner, wake up when the morning’s patrons start coming in and/or the owner kicks him out, and will find another restaurant or bar to do it all over again.

On the occasion that he happens to be at Ursula’s Fish and Chips Shoppe, Dizzy will come over and talk to him (Dizzy is there a lot now, because Anthony decided that his cousin needed someplace to stay where she’d reliably get meals, and Ursula has no objection to Uma turning the back room into a makeshift shelter so long as the numerous kids there take shifts). Hans tries to put on a good front for her; he’ll hide his mug or make a point of drinking water; he’ll do his very best to focus and pretend that he’s sober; he’ll ask her how her day has been and what she’s up to.

Not that Dizzy’s days vary very much.

Until she gets chosen to go to Auradon.

When Dizzy leaves for Auradon, Hans is glad for her, because it means she gets to have a future, away from this Isle full of nothing but ghosts and memories.

But he is sad, too, because it means that he’s finally really alone.

[dysfunctional-family-fight]

Propaganda for the Buendía Family

CW: Pedophilia, murder, self-harm, suicide, rape, incest

"Well let's see, the original patriarch José Arcadio bankrupted everyone with his weird scientific get-rich-quick schemes and eventually went so insane he had to be tied to a tree, their child Aureliano was obsessed with and married a child, his sister Amaranta seriously considered killing her sister Rebeca (an orphan who had a tendency to eat dirt to cope with her trauma) over her getting married to the man she was also in love with until Rebeca fell in love with her adopted brother José Arcadio instead, which she thought was ok because he left the family before she was born so they had never actually met but their mother drove them out for. Then José Arcadio got mysteriously murdered and Rebeca lived alone in her house after that to the point no one was sure she was alive. while Amaranta felt so guilty about wanting some delay to the wedding so she wouldn't "have" to kill Rebeca only for Remedios (said child who got married) to die instead delaying it, that she refused the man they were in love with when she finally had the chance and drove him to suicide, for which she felt so guilty about that she horribly burned her own hands. Then she borderline molested her nephew Aureliano José when he was a child (she never went as far as actual sexual acts because she knew it was wrong but still was attracted to him and spent a lot of time with them both naked, leading to Aureliano José developing an obsession with her when he grew up). Also José Arcadio (the adopted brother who married Rebeca) had a child at 14, which is why he ran away and never met Rebeca in the first place, and said child Arcadio unknowingly tried to sleep with his mother Pilar Ternera, who spent half her money to send someone else to meet with him instead in secret. Arcadio also became a murderous tyrant over the town they lived in and Úrsula, his adopted mother/grandmother, whipped him and chased him out for it. Aureliano Segundo, Arcadio's son, married Fernanda and they had a miserable marriage because Fernanda's gaudy lifestyle clashes with the family and she feels alone and isolated, she goes on a pages long run-on-sentence rant about it at one point, and when their daughter Meme fell in love she had his lover shot and he got paralyzed, then sent Meme to be a nun where she never spoke again and locked their child Aureliano in a room for his childhood. Aureliano then tried to rape Ursula Amaranta, who was actually his aunt but he didn't know, but she decided she liked him more than her husband and had sex everywhere in random places in the house with him willingly, until she died in childbirth and their child got eaten by ants and then the whole town got blown away by wind. Also they are doing all sorts of messed-up stuff or traumatizing unrelated to family members, colonel Aureliano led a whole revolution but ended up devolving into killing people cynically and not believing there was any political point and it was all about pride, and then quitting altogether after failing an attempt to kill himself, José Arcadio (Rebeca's husband) stole his neighbors' land, José Arcadio Segundo is traumatized by leading a strike and watching everyone get shot, then being mistaken for dead and put in a train full of corpses, and they have officially rewritten the history so no one believes him it ever happened. Yeah it's a weird book."

[wirewitchviolet]

Fascists getting impressively bold in asserting their alternate take on reality, example number some big number.

So when I looked at my phone today, I saw an alert pop up about a Times of London article about Judy Blume, and mostly it got me really concerned about what the hell installed itself on my phone without my consent that’s pulling headlines from some transphobic rag, but the short version is they ran a story about Blume being this full-throated supporter of J.K. Rowling’s horrific transphobia, which is just complete fiction, and she’s been spending the day running damage control with statements like these:

I’m going to circle back around to this, but on the off chance people follow me here who aren’t up to speed on this sort of propaganda, it’s been going on for quite a long time, particularly in this specific context of fascists completely fabricating stories about other authors supporting their uh... genocidal ambitions.

This sort of thing happens literally all the time. More often than not it happens with people who have been dead for decades or centuries so there’s more plausibility on going “well who’s really to say what this person would have thought about trans people? (Besides us, saying they’d be in favor of total extermination.) There wasn’t even a concept of trans people anywhere in the world before let’s say last Tuesday after all!” And like, they’ll do this with famous historical trans people. Like bigots were on this huge crusade to claim Dr. James Barry as a would-be supporter. Look him up.

They’ve been getting bolder with it though. Especially when it comes to beloved authors. Like, literally RIGHT after Terry Prachett died, a bunch of Nazi ghouls immediately started in on this weird campaign to claim him as a supporter. It uh, made a few headlines. Specifically it made a few headlines because he was very actively and vocally in support of trans people, as could be seen in books he’s written, the testimony of his family friends and coworkers, and you know, countless trans people he’d interacted with.

So then they started trying to pull this with authors who don’t quite have such a public history to be thrown back at them, and started getting really bold, claiming people who are still alive. Mostly just kinda trying to bait people with weird loaded questions like “hey, did you hear J.K. Rowling has tons of people bullying her lately, isn’t that messed up?” at the likes of Stephen King and Phil Pullman, who responded like you do when someone says that that hey, it’s not cool to bully people” and tada, here’s our headlines. Of course they PRETTY QUICKLY became aware that in this context “bullying” means “publishing factual accounts in the public record about her heavy involvement in a fascist collective with genocidal aims towards trans people” and walked that the hell back.

That sort of one-day-confusion from white guys in their 70s who haven’t been paying much attention to civil rights issues and absurd internet nazis is the closest these people can really get to a “win” here, and still aren’t really the best possible gets, so what about going with still living but probably not all that up with the times feminist writers? Like hey, what about Margaret Atwood? This sort of bigot’s all about calling cis women who don’t actively hate trans women “handmaidens” as a reference to her book, which they definitely read and understood, so that should work out, right? Not so much.

They had a similar strike out with Ursula LeGuin a while back. I don’t think they’ve quite been stupid enough to try and claim Madeleine L’Engle while her book with the non-binary angelic beings are helping kids fight against fascism was being made into a movie, but eventually they decided to come for Judy Blume, because... that makes sense when you’re this far removed from a reality.

So... those quotes above? Those aren’t things I went and dug up on my own. Those are straight off her social media feed, because she’s straight up furious bigots are trying to put words in her mouth on a topic she’s pretty clear about. And if you look at the responses those statements are garnering, it is some grade A cultist reality denial:

I could keep going with this, but, you know, these are intertwined with people shouting just utterly horrific hate speech at her and I don’t want to keep wading through hat sort of sewage just to find even more people directly replying to someone saying “I completely abhor your disgusting hate movement and have made my stance on this clear for years” with “no you don’t! You secretly agree with us! You’re just backpedalling in these... statements that don’t at all work with the timeline I’m using to cope!”

I don’t really have a greater point beyond demonstrating how just COMPLETELY GONE these people are, unwilling in any way to accept the truth of the world around them, that no, people don’t in fact agree with their hateful rhetoric, and no, children’s authors who right about being yourself do not, in fact, want children to be abducted and tortured until they act in a way complete monsters would prefer. Also a lot of them have carte blanche to print straight up lies in newspapers and use that pretty regularly.

[violet-periwinkle]

Finally finished kaeloo season 5 and here's my thoughts.

(spoiler alert + bad english, still learning)

I think my fav part is Kaeloo/Bad K development . We see them working on their relationship and it's so wholesome to see . They even ask eachother permission before transforming and I find it so cute . I also like the little bubbles idea.

We finally get to see stumpy'sisters. Honestly, I wasn't that hyped for them at first . I thought showing Ursula would be more interesting. But I ended up liking them . They remind me of my own relationship with my sisters and they're funny most of the time and quite enjoyable

La Règle/ The Rules was okay . Not particulary funny but I like her, I don't know why. I think it's a nice add to the show and allows the episodes to go even crazier since she can basically do everything she wants .

And Pretty... I know it's not a popular opinion but I liked her character this season. She's softer , kinder and finally not in love with mister cat anymore (btw, her friendship with him is cool to see)

TALKING OF MISTER CAT, I'm happy he finally get a therapist and became a lil' nicer too but man, he went through a lot this season . And the jokes about his abusive familly and trauma ...was so messed up ... Like, Yeah , I'm happy we know more about him and his backstory and I can't wait to see more but the treatment was ... a bit cruel???

Quack-Quack finally had more personality and is not just an over-powered duck . We do see him actually act like a friend to Stumpy and it's cool. Also, the episode about his past was just a MASTERPIECE and so creative visually .

And ngl, I'm lil' sad that we didn't see any Kaelat moment, or barely , comparing to the S3 and S4 . I know it's not supposed to be an imporant part of the show but they make me very happy okay ??? .Maybe next season.

Anyway, good season overall. It has some flaws but I enjoyed it a lot !